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Blackberry has cut its US sales force down by more than half, according to reports. The new batch of layoffs, starting with several dozen employees at its Waterloo, Ontario offices, comes less than two months after it culled 250 product testing staff at the same location, and forms part of the company's larger layoff plans as it tries to financially rectify itself.

A spokesperson confirmed "a small number of employees were laid off today" to theWall Street Journal, though did not go into further detail. A source ofCantech Letter states that consumer sales is effectively "gone" and "enterprise is gutted," as well as giving a slightly more accurate figure for the cuts. "I had twenty guys (from BlackBerry) on BBM from sales, and they have all posted alternate emails on their status," said the source, who also told of rumors that similar cuts will take place in the UK in the next few days.

The attempts by BlackBerry to fix its financial situation has led the company to lay off large numbers of staff in recent times, along with 5,000 let go in the previous financial year, but losing employees is only one of a number of things it is working on. The company is looking at potentially becoming a privately-operated company, with murmurs of an auction suggesting a change of ownership could be completed by November. BlackBerry is also considering spinning its BlackBerry Messenger service into its own subsidiary, something that could in theory allow itself to become a more attractive proposition to potential buyers.